In this paper, through introducing an external heat source to the conventional humid air turbine (HAT) cycle, we have studied the performances of the improved humid air gas turbine cycle mainly by exergy analysis method. In order to attain the performance of the humid air gas turbine with external heat source, we compare it with the conventional HAT cycle in detail with different factors such as the pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature (TIT) and the external circulating water mass flow. The results showed that the specific work of the new system and the humidity ratio of saturator are all increased in some degree. For example, in the same pressure ratio and TIT, when the ratio of the external circulating water mass flow rate with that of the internal water is 0.2, the specific work increases more than 15.2 kJ kg(-1) a, and the humidity raises at least 2.0 percent points. By introducing the external circulating water into the system, though thermal efficiency of the new HAT cycle is lower than that of the conventional HAT cycle, the exergy efficiency exhibits different results. Generally, when the pressure ratio is over 8, the exergy efficiency for the proposed HAT cycle is higher than the conventional HAT cycle; while less than 8, whether or not the exergy efficiency increases will mainly depend on TIT. In addition, the exergy destructions of components in systems were investigated. Through the comparison of the new system with the conventional HAT cycle, it was found that the exergy loss proportion in combustion declines for the new system, and the proportion of exhaust loss increases. From the viewpoint of total energy system, the HAT cycle with utilization of external heat source is a beneficial way to improve the overall performances of energy utilization. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.